HOW WHATSAPP IS TAKING AI TO BHARAT

For users it is the easiest way in; for startups it is the fastest way to scale

- Shadma Shaikh

One morning in Bhopal, 52-year-old garment shop owner Ramesh Yadav unfolded a local Hindi newspaper to find a rather unusual notice from Madhya Pradesh Madhya Kshetra Vidyut Vitaran Company Ltd, a power distribution firm. The notice had a QR code and a number advertised as a new way to pay his electricity bill—through WhatsApp.

Yadav, already comfortable with UPI, scanned the code, which opened WhatsApp on his phone and presented him with a menu of options. Within minutes, he cleared his dues. Now with WhatsApp’s voice features, he doesn’t even bother with menus. He presses the green mic and says in Bundeli, “Bijli ka bill bharno hai.” An AI bot powered by conversational-AI platform Gupshup replies with a payment link.

Elsewhere, a young mother in a Hindi-speaking town asks a WhatsApp bot what foods are safe during pregnancy. Puch.ai, a WhatsApp-first assistant now available on 9090909090 (one of India’s most expensive numbers as the company spent a fortune to get it), responds in Hinglish with simple diet suggestions as a voice note.

For her, as for 60% of Puch’s users, this is the very first time AI feels like part of daily life.

On another day, an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) aspirant asks Puch for current affairs updates, while a school admin asks for a customized poster for an event.

Similarly for India’s unorganized workers, AI is creeping into their lives through welfare services. A daily-wage worker updating her e-Shram records, India’s national database of unorganized workers that links them to social security benefits. She can now type in her local language in Microsoft's Jugalbandi bot on WhatsApp and within minutes, can update her details.